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Friday, July 22, 2016

When you think of San Diego, beautiful beaches, great surfing and relaxing vacation resorts may come to mind. However, there was once a much more mysterious side to this city by the sea.
Guarding the entrance to San Diego Bay is an area known as Point Loma. While famous for being “where California began” when Spanish settlers discovered it in 1542, it was much later made famous for being home to Katherine Tingley, a Massachusetts social worker who brought the Theosophical Society to the area, which she called Lomaland, in 1900.

Theosophy is a spiritualist principle that seeks to understand the bonds that bring the enigmas of the universe together through nature, the divine and the human world. Theosophists may believe in the Occult, and it’s said Madame Tingley would hold séances at her residence, presumably to make contact with spirits that might be able to reveal celestial secrets.

Peppertree Lane, a road near Point Loma Nazarene College, is said to be haunted by the spirits contacted by Madame Tingley during her séances. One resident of Peppertree Lane said she found the profile of a woman’s old-fashioned dress in a photograph she took in her home. Another resident reported the family dog would sometimes become afraid of an unseen entity; it would growl at the ceiling with its fur bristling. The ghost of a former homeowner was once glimpsed by a startled neighbor.

Some residents have wondered if the former home for the elderly in Point Loma could be the source of residual spirit energy. Regardless of where the ghosts may have come from, they must certainly be content spending eternity in such a lovely setting.